Between scylla and charybdis : South Africa's foreign policy dilemma in Southern Africa.

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Abstract

Africa is at the cross roads as it redefines itself within a new framework of political
and economic linkages. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United
States illustrate both the dangers of reckless foreign policy choices as well as the need
for cooperation with regard to transnational threats. From the exclusive policies of
‘total onslaught’ to the inclusive policies of the African Renaissance, South Africa has
tried almost everything but remains unable to find an acceptable niche for herself in
Southern Africa. Deep suspicions about South African intentions and commitment
persist despite the reality of shared fears of further marginalisation, and aspirations of
more propitious integration, within a rapidly globalising international environment.
In understanding these dynamics, this study traces the evolution of South Africa’s
contemporary relationship with the Southern African region and rationalizes this
relationship within a broader theoretical framework based on development, discourse
and hegemonic stability theories as well as the middle-power and pivot-state
paradigms. In addition, the study assesses South Africa’s foreign policy options in
light of both domestic constraints and the perceptions of other countries within the
region.
In essence, South Africa’s regional foreign policy dilemma is a product of the
country’s inability to adjust timeously its strategic compass in the mercurial world of
foreign policy where a country seeking to advance an ambitious foreign policy agenda
will always be confronted with powers arrayed against it, forces that it cannot manage
and battles that it cannot win. As this thesis argues, South Africa’s inability to
convince other states that her vision is complimentary to their needs has inhibited her
ability to engineer a process of transformation and development in the region.
The challenge for the South African government is to shift the power dynamic against
which projections of South African dominance trigger fierce rejection or reluctant
cooperation by regional governments. This foreign policy drive has to be
underpinned by a clearly defined developmental strategy that is able to compromise
between high ideals and stark realities, between a preference for paternalistically
reshaping regional relations and realising that given internal challenges and
international expectations, South Africa needs the region perhaps even more than the
region needs South Africa. In order to restore some balance to this trend, regional
relations grounded in transformative development must be seen as a critical
component of South Africa’s national interests.